Sharon Long appointed to National Medal of Science committee

SHARON LONG, the Steere-Pfizer Professor of Biological Sciences at Stanford, has been named by Barack Obama to the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science. Long, who served as Dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford from 2001 until 2007, “works at the intersection of genetics, biochemistry and cell biology to study the symbiosis of nitrogen-fixing bacteria and legumes. Her work aims to improve the use of plants and bacteria in energy conservation and sustainable agriculture, among other things, the White House announcement said.

Long has received numerous honors since coming to Stanford, including a National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award, a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, the Shell Foundation Research Award and the Charles A. Schull Award from the American Society of Plant Physiology. She also is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a fellow of the American Philosophical Society.

The President’s Committee evaluates nominees for the National Medal of Science, and makes recommendations to the president.

Long noted in an email that “since the Medal was established in 1959, there have been 34 Stanford awardees including eight who also won the Nobel prize, and also including Stanford’s legendary provost Frederick Terman.”